Biomechanics of North Atlantic Right Whale Bone: Mandibular Fracture as a Fatal Endpoint for Blunt Vessel-Whale Collision Modeling

• Main Author: Campbell-Malone, Regina P.
• Other Authors: MASSACHUSETTS INST OF TECH CAMBRIDGE
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 2007
• Subjects: Biology; Marine Engineering; *WHALES; VELOCITY; NAVAL VESSELS; PHYSICAL PROPERTIES; FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS; THESES; WOUNDS AND INJURIES; BONE FRACTURES; MANDIBLE; HABITATS; ENDANGERED SPECIES; MORTALITY RATE; NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN; BIOMECHANICS; COLLISIONS; SHIP STRIKE; RIGHT WHALE; Eubalaena glacialis; North Atlantic; North Atlantic right whale
• Online Access: http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA475533; http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA475533

The North Atlantic right whale, Eubalaena glacialis, one of the most critically endangered whales in the world, is subject to high anthropogenic mortality. Vessel-whale collisions and entanglement in fishing gear were indicated in 27 (67.5%) of the 40 right whales necropsied between 1970 and December 2006. Of those, at least 9 deaths (22.5%) resulted from blunt contact with a vessel. To reduce the likelihood of fatal collisions, speed restrictions are being considered for vessels traversing critical habitat, although the effects of speed on collision outcomes have not been specifically evaluated from a biomechanics perspective. The ultimate goal of a larger collaborative project is to evaluate the efficacy of speed restrictions for reducing blunt collision mortality using a multi-scale finite element model. Complete, transverse fracture of the right whale mandible, an injury seen only in right whales killed by vessels, is used as a proxy for mortality in the model. Vital for that model are the material properties and biomechanical behavior of the right whale mandible. Here, the internal structure and physical properties of right whale jawbone tissue are reported. The original document contains color images. All DTIC reproductions will be in black and white. Prepared in cooperation with Woods Hole Oceanographic Inst., Woods Hole, Mass.